OREANDA-NEWS. June 18, 2012. The first meeting of creditors of AB bankas SNORAS (in bankruptcy) has today taken place at the "Siemens" arena in Vilnius, Lithuania, reported the press-centre of AB Bankas SNORAS.

During the meeting, Neil Cooper, Bankruptcy Administrator reported on the progress in the bankruptcy to date and the formal agenda of the meeting as required by the applicable laws was as follows:

Procedural resolutions to approve the agenda and the Secretary of the meeting

Election of the Chairperson of the Creditors' Committee

Election of the SNORAS Creditors' Committee

In addition to this, creditors were given the opportunity to submit a question in advance of the meeting and answers to the most frequently asked questions were provided in the report of the Bankruptcy Administrator and during the meeting itself.

Commenting on the nature of the Snoras Bankruptcy, Neil Cooper, Bankruptcy Administrator said:

"From the outset, it has been clear that while the bankruptcy proceedings were commenced in Lithuania, it is in fact, a major global case. For example, there are assets in more than 40 jurisdictions and creditors in more than 50 jurisdictions. The effective resolution of this highly complex case is going to require recovery and legal action in a large number of jurisdictions outside of Lithuania. A significant contributor to the bankruptcy has been the wrongful removal of a substantial proportion of the bank's liquid assets by the former major shareholders, not simply a result of poor business decisions. We have identified transactions that have had the effect of removing LTL 1.7 billion from SNORAS."

The Creditors' Committee elected at today's meeting will assist the Bankruptcy Administrator in the bankruptcy procedure including the recovery of assets and will decide on the continuity or restriction of economic or commercial activities of SNORAS whilst defending the interests of creditors. The election of the Creditors' Committee allows a new phase of the bankruptcy to begin during which further actions can be taken to recover and realise the assets of SNORAS for the benefit of all creditors.

Commenting on the factors affecting dividends for unsecured creditors, Neil Cooper added:
"We cannot confirm how much will be available for unsecured creditors at this time as it depends on a number of factors such as realisations from the loan book, the recovery of money improperly removed from the bank and on the sale of other assets such as Finasta and SNORO Lizingas. The dividends available to individual creditors will also be affected by the amounts of creditor claims and the rankings of creditors. With this in mind, it would be misleading and irresponsible to imply that substantial dividends are likely to be paid within the next couple of years. There remain a large number of unanswered questions that we will continue to work on with the assistance of the Creditors' Committee to achieve the best possible outcome for creditors."